As Charlotte Brontë once wrote, Edinburgh is to London as poetry is to prose. One of the world's stateliest cities and proudest capitals, its guardian castle remains the focal point of the city. And in a skyline of sheer drama Edinburgh Castle makes a striking backdrop for the ancient pageant of history. 

Nearly everywhere in Edinburgh (the burgh is always pronounced burra in Scotland) there are spectacular buildings whose Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian pillars add touches of neoclassical grandeur to the largely Presbyterian backdrop. Despite its rich past, the city’s famous festivals, excellent museums and galleries, as well as the modern Scottish Parliament building, are reminders that Edinburgh has its feet firmly in the 21st century.

Modern Edinburgh has become a cultural capital, staging the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe Festival in every possible venue each August. The stunning Museum of Scotland complements the city’s wealth of galleries and artsy hangouts. Add Edinburgh’s growing reputation for food and nightlife and you have one of the world’s most beguiling cities.

Take time to explore the streets – peopled by the spirits of Mary, Queen of Scots; Sir Walter Scott; and Robert Louis Stevenson – and pay your respects to the world's best-loved terrier, Greyfriars Bobby. When his master died Bobby refused to leave his graveside. In the evenings you can enjoy candlelit restaurants or a folk ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee, a traditional Scottish dance with music), though you should remember that you haven't earned your porridge until you've climbed Arthur's Seat. This child-size mountain of bright green and yellow furze rears up behind the spires of the Old Town and has steep slopes and little crags, almost like a miniature Highlands set down in the middle of the busy city.

Should you wander around a corner, say, on George Street, you might see not an endless cityscape, but blue sea and a patchwork of fields. This is the county of Fife, beyond the inlet of the North Sea called the Firth of Forth – a reminder, like the mountains to the northwest that can be glimpsed from Edinburgh's highest points, that the rest of Scotland lies within easy reach.